This specification describes technologies relating to triggering the searching of and the ranking of native application content relative to web page resources.
The Internet provides access to a wide variety of information. For example, digital image files, video and/or audio files, as well as web page resources for particular subjects or particular news articles, are accessible over the Internet. With respect to web page resources, many of these resources are designed to facilitate the performing of particular functions, such as banking, booking hotel reservations, shopping, etc., or to provide structured information, such as on-line encyclopedias, movie databases, etc. With the advent of tablet computers and smart phones, native applications that facilitate the performance of the same functions facilitated by the use of web page resources are now being provided in large numbers.
Additionally, native applications that do not have websites with synchronous content, such as games, are also very popular on tablet computers and smart phones. Many of these latter types of native applications also have web pages that are descriptive of the native application, such as a product page that can be browsed using a web browser. The product page may include screen shots of the native application, user ratings, and the like.
Search engines now also facilitate searching of these native applications. A user's informational need may thus be satisfied by providing search results that identify either one (or both) of a particular web page resource that describes a native application, and a search results for the native application itself.